Sitting On Top Of The World With This Great Prewar Steiff Find

Steiffgal's fostering a sweet Steiff pup - at least for a few days! A local friend came across this great button in ear pooch amongst a bunch of other items in a boxed lot from an auction. When Steiffgal checked out the dog in person, he was even better than her friend described. But he needed just a little work to bring out his best self. Check out this cute canine  - he's certain to warm your heart, in the best possible way. 

Here we have Steiff's Chinook Byrds Arctic Expedition Dog. He is sitting, head jointed, and 28 cm tall. He is made from blonde wool plush. He is very authentically rendered with great curves and proportions. His sweet long tail curves upward and hugs his body. He has black hand embroidered claws on each of his paws. His face comes to life with brown and black glass pupil eyes, a black hand embroidered nose, and a happy, smiling open felt lined mouth. His airbrushing includes overall shading, pads on the bottom of his feet, back striping, and facial highlighting. He wears a red leather collar that closes with two Steiff buttons. He has a large bell which may or may not be original to him. He retains his button in ear. This dog was made in 22, 28, and 35 cm from 1930-1931 only. He was also made in a lying configuration in 22, 32, 35, and 50 cm from 1930-1931 and as a tail moves head version in 23, 29, and 35 cm from 1931-1932.

Although he's simply gorgeous now, that's not how he arrived at Steiffgal's home. His original eyes were replaced with glass eyes that were clearly way too small, broken, and not original to him. He had a few open seams, and his tail was not attached to his body. And he was FILTHLY! Like stored in an attic and wrapped in old newspaper for 50 years dirty. But these things can easily be addressed. First, Steiffgal gave him a soft, gentle cleaning. She followed this process and it worked really well. After a few go rounds, he went from dark grey to light blonde. Wool plush cleans up well, and is sturdy, so much of his natural beauty came to life again. This cleaning also revealed traces of his once prominent contour and highlight airbrushing which were hidden under his dust. 

Next, she replaced his eyes with ones that were more proportional to his face. He presented with broken glass eyes that measured about 3 mm. After studying his face, and consulting with similar sized dogs from his era, Steiffgal determined that the right size eyes for him would be 9 cm. So she ordered them from www.glasseyesonline.com; this website has tons of options for restoration projects like this. She inserted them into his head in the "traditional" Steiff way, using a long needle to secure the eyes to the head via a knot at the back of the head. 

And finally, she simply added a few stitches to bring him back to good form. She gently tacked his tail into place, matching the curve noted in photos of this item when it was new. And she closed a small loose seam on one of his slightly folded over ears. 

Now let's take a quick look at the history of the Chinook breed, and its relationship to Byrd's Antarctic Expedition. A Chinook is a relatively recent breed of dog that was created by Arthur Walden of Wonalancet, New Hampshire in 1917 as a working dog. This breed was "formulated" from crossbreeding dogs from the Peary North Pole Expedition with other breeds with great stamina, strength, and cold weather tolerance. You can see a photo of a real life Chinook here on the left.

Mr. Walden was an experienced dog driver with years of experience in the Yukon.  For that reason was selected as the lead driver and trainer on the 1929 Byrd expedition, even though he was close to 60 at the time! Walden brought along his original Chinook, now 12 years old, and fifteen of his dog sons to provide surface transportation on the Antarctic ice for this critical exploratory mission.  

And what does this mean in terms of Steiff? It is not uncommon since the turn of last century for Steiff to use "celebrities" as inspiration for new products. The world was in love with Chinooks and the role they played in Byrd's operations; why not make him as a plaything?  The precedent had already been set with a series of delightful and popular dolls and toys honoring Peary's North Pole Expedition in the 1908 - 1919 time frame.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's polar pups has you sitting on top of the world!

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